A short time ago in a galaxy not so far away I went to this science fiction themed bar in the east of Tokyo. Apologies for that opening line but (not for the first time!) I couldn’t think of a more imaginative opener. My friend Yoshinori a.k.a. “John” of Tokyo Character Map (*) fame has recently moved into YouTubing and among his toy hunting videos was one that really captured my imagination. He made a couple of short films at Flux bar in Kanda and I wondered how I’d never heard of it as it’s actually been open since 2012! You can watch them here and here.

Steps lead down into this drinking den and there’s even a Back To The Future-style sign saying “Welcome to the future” which is quite apt as the owners vision was for the bar to look and feel futuristic, like you’re travelling through the Sci-fi world. There are a few other BTTF props including a couple of the things I also have in my props collection as well as the Mr Fusion (the home energy reactor that powers the Delorean) fusion generator signed by the Doc himself, presumably at Hollycon 5 when Christopher Lloyd was the special guest.

This bar is a dream for Sci-fi lovers, particularly Star Wars fans and it also includes many amazing props from the likes of Terminator, Iron Man, Ghostbusters, Batman, Star Trek, X-Men, Mad Max and so on.

There are life size busts of C3P0, Boba Fett, Darth Vader and Darth Maul and there are also masks of the latter two on display. Droid toys and figures as well as an AT-AT are all mixed in with bottles of liquor behind the bar. Other Star Wars stuff includes a 1/72 Millennium Falcon model kit, various replica lightsaber props and a large sized carbonite Han solo which is over two metres in size.

Anyway, this is a bar we’re talking about so lets move on to the drinks! The menu is packed full of film-themed cocktails relating to a wide range of Sci-fi movies including Star Wars, Terminator, Blade Runner, Mad Max, Godzilla, Lord Of The Rings, Pulp Fiction, Robocop, Predator, Back To The Future, Batman, The Avengers, Spider-man, X-Men and so many more. It’s no surprise what the James Bond 007 drink is!

My first two drinks (above) were very nice and the first one had to be “Jedi” (vodka + Blue & Cider) which I’m told is the most popular drink. There is of course a cocktail called “Sith” which naturally is red and both of those contain a lightsaber chopstick for added effect. The second drink I had was called “Spidey” (Tarantula + Blue & cranberry juice and soda) which admittedly was chosen purely for its appearance! For the record, each drink on the menu is graded on a scale informing you whether it is more sweet or more dry or in the middle which is where my two drinks were.

It was when I initially looked at the menu (available in English too!) that I realised I had seen a few of these cocktails at the Tokyo ComicCon 2015 event in Shinagawa. Barman Daisuke (who once did a home-stay in Bournemouth!) confirmed this was true and furthermore it seems that we must’ve spoken briefly at that event! This time we spoke a lot more about the bar, conventions, mutual friends and special events which are sometimes held at the bar.

The music playing in the background whilst I was there was very familiar to me as it included many of the movie themes (James Bond, Terminator, Imperial March, Kill Bill etc) which I use daily at work in lessons (entrance, background and exit music) as well as for our wedding reception in Hiroshima in November 2014. It may have been my day off but they reminded me of work!! There is also a big screen behind the bar for playing films and so on.

Please note that there is a 500 yen charge as well as service tax per person and you must order one drink per hour. It is happy hour between 5 and 7pm which I didn’t know about beforehand. I was actually all set to leave after two drinks but when presented with the bill I noticed it was much cheaper than I’d expected so I stayed for one space-themed cocktail.

SF Bar Kanda Flux is located at 3-6-10-B1 Uchikanda in Chiyoda-ku and it’s open from 5pm – 2am (Tuesday to Saturday) and 5pm – Midnight (Sundays). It is closed on Mondays. 

(*) Mention Tokyo Character Map and get a free special sticker!